Rihanna Gets Mad and Sues A Lot of People

Gossip juggernaut TMZ and others reported today that four time Grammy winning superstar Rihanna is hella heated up and hopping mad about (alleged) construction defects that affect the livability and value of the the big ol' Beverly Hills, CA mansion she bought back in September of 2009. The music industry phenom and tabloid headliner is so furious she's filed a lawsuit against just about everyone...

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A New Chez for Newlyweds Nick Lachey and Vanessa Minnillo

BUYERS: Nick Lachey and Vanessa MinnilloLOCATION: Encino, CAPRICE: $2,850,000SIZE: 8,134 square feet, 6 bedrooms, 8 bathroomsYOUR MAMAS NOTES: One of Your Mama's unofficial celebrity real estate rules states that when a rich and/or famous person marries they frequently also buy a new home. In short, a new spouse means a new house. It makes little matter if the newly betrothed previously shacked up...

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Fed Minutes : Fed Considered Additional Stimulus In August

The Fed publishes meeting minutes 8 times annually -- three weeks after each scheduled Federal Open Market Committee get-together. The Fed Minutes summarizes the FOMC meeting. The Federal Reserve released the minutes from its August 9, 2011 Federal Open Market Committee meeting Tuesday. The Fed Minutes contained no surprises and, as a result, mortgage rates across WA and nationwide...

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Tuesday Tidbit: Did Roman Abramovich Do It Again in London?

International Real Estate rumor has it that Russian oligarch and globe-trotting trophy property collector Roman Abramovich may have purchased a humongous house on Kensington Palace Gardens, the most expensive and security conscious gated enclave in all of hyper-pricey London.Did y'all get that? This is just rumor and gossip at this point. Your Mama did not find any reports on the interweb that provide...

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Tuesday Tidbit: Mitt Romney Clarifies Plans for La Jolla Hideaway

We hesitate to bring this matter up again since we received some rather ugly and disturbing hate mail the last time we discussed, but...Last week former Massachusetts governor and current GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney took it on the real estate chin when it was reported here, there, and everywhere that he'd submitted plans to nearly quadruple the size of an architecturally insignificant beach...

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Tuesday Tidbit: Kim Kardashian to Hole Up In NYC Hotel

Brace yourselves, butter beans because it's feverishly low-brow reality tee-vee time.A week or two ago Kim Kardashian was married to professional dribbler Kris Humphries in an extravagant multi-million dollar production on the spectacular manicured grounds of Sotto Il Monte, a sprawling and historic estate in Montecito, CA owned by Silicon Valley venture capitalist Frank Caufield.New reports in The...

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Pending Home Sales Slip In July; Creates Buyer Opportunity

After 3 straight months of gains, the Pending Home Sales Index slipped 1 percent in July. The monthly report is published by the National Association of REALTORS® and measures the number of home under contract to sell nationwide. The Pending Home Sales Index is closely watched by Wall Street and analysts because it's a forward-looking housing market indicator. Unlike most housing market data, though,...

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Sean Avery Lists Hollywood Hills House at a Loss

SELLER: Sean AveryLOCATION: Los Angeles, CAPRICE: $859,000SIZE: 1,607 square feet, 2 bedrooms, 2.5 bathroomsYOUR MAMAS NOTES: A few weeks ago professional ice hockey puck pusher Sean Avery was arrested at his home in Los Angeles, CA after noise complaints by neighbors brought the po-po to place in order to put a kibosh on the late-night racket. Badda-bing badda-boom Mister Avery ended up behind bars...

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Hard Money Loan #19 Started

My loan #16 was paid off last week, so my partner was on the lookout for a new loan to make. He found one almost immediately. This new property was bought at auction by one of our regular borrowers. He was the only bidder. He got the place for about $63,000. My partner estimates current value to be about $95,000 and after repaired value to be $120,000. Our loan is for $42,000, giving us a LTV of 44%...

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How To Weatherize Your Home With Caulk

With seasons changing, it's a good time to look at weatherizing your home. Whether you live in a single-family home, a multi-family property, or a condominium, your home has windows and, through those windows, air escapes. Even with your windows closed. In this brief tutorial from Lowe's, you'll learn how to use caulk to seal the gaps between your windows and doors and their respective framing to keep your home's inside air in, and the outside air out. Weatherizing your windows and doors...

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A Temporary Nest in 'The Birds' for Lovebirds Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux

Rom-com queen and former sit-com star Jennifer Aniston (Friends, Horrible Bosses, Marley & Me) may have only snatched brooding screenwriter/actor Justin Theroux (I Shot Andy Warhol, American Psycho, Tropic Thunder, John Adams) from a 14-year relationship a few short months ago but their high-profile and much chronicled romance zoomed from 0-60 faster than it takes water to boil.Almost immediately...

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Life of Real Estate Agents in Tampa, Florida

In the blogging world, we try to provide facts and interesting articles for our viewers so that you might find helpful information to satisfy your interest in following us. SI Real Estate’s expertise is in real estate here in sunny Tampa, Florida. We feel it is important to inform our clients, associates, and customers that the real estate market in Tampa has a new trend, we no longer have over a...

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Christina Aguilera Takes It on the Real Estate Chin

SELLER: Christina AguileraLOCATION: Los Angeles, CAPRICE: $4,653,815 (sale)SIZE: 6,500-ish square feet, 4 bedrooms, 7 bathroomsYOUR MAMAS NOTES: It may have taken more than three years and a handful of heavy-duty price chops but recently divorced pop music super star turned reality tee-vee singing contest judge Christina Aguilera has finally sold her former bachelorette pad high above the Sunset Strip....

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Mortgage Rates Bounce Off All-Time Lows; The Start Of A Trend?

Low mortgage rates are terrific -- if you can get them. One week after posting its lowest mortgage rate in 50 years, Freddie Mac reports that the 30-year fixed rate mortgage rose by an average of 7 basis points nationwide this week to 4.22%. To get the rate, you'll pay an average of 0.7 "points". This week's rise in the 30-year fixed rate mortgage pulled rates off their all-time lows so either you...

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Your Mama Hears...

...from the Malibu Candyman that bushy bearded and frequently barefooted music super-producer/guru Rick Rubin has just dropped $2,000,000 on the world-renowned and much-beloved Shangri La music studio, nestled into the rustic rolling hills just above Zuma Beach in Malibu, CA.Mister Rubin, a much in demand and shockingly prolific producer who does not actually know how to read music or operate a sound...

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